Ooey Gooey Good Animal Tracks: Our Annual Holiday Activity
At Ahimsa, we have a tradition of sharing a yearly activity that can be enjoyed with friends and family, and you don’t have to be a kid to have fun with it.
One of my favourite winter time activities is animal tracking, especially in the snow. I love finding animal tracks, identifying them, and creating stories of the critters that left the tracks behind on their travels. And animal tracks can be found anywhere in winter, even if there is no snow. If there isn’t any snow, go hunting in the mud or on ground where the mud has hardened, for some tracks.
Here are some fun kitchen goodies that are easy for all ages to whip up and can help you to learn your animal tracks.
Peanut Butter Snack Tracks (A Tracey Temple Invention)
Recipe:
- Mix ½ c peanut butter, ½ c icing sugar, 1 tbsp softened butter, and ½ c Rice Krispies together.
Activity:
- With your young ones or the young at heart, take a heaping spoonful of the peanut butter mixture, flatten the peanut butter ‘dirt’ and make the imprints different animal tracks in it, using the picture of animal tracks as a guide.
- Stick the peanut butter tracks in the fridge to harden.
- Whilst your peanut butter tracks are hardening, enjoy a winter walk and search for animal tracks, identify them, and create stories of the travels of the animals that left the tracks behind.
- Share your animal track stories and teach your family and friends some track id as you enjoy your peanut buttery snacks.
You can also find last year’s paper making activity here.
Happy Holidays!
The Gang at Ahimsa Media
Lori Goes Viral
Howling with laughter!!! Always knew our very own Lori Yearwood was a Rock Star, but the paparazzi pics that spread virally of her on the web today proves it.
As seen on celebuzz.com, Lori's paparazzi pic!
Not much of a celebrity hound or quite frankly an advocate of star power, but I have to say that it was interesting to see how a paparazzi pic taken of our very own star, Lori Yearwood, could go viral on the web in a day. She’s on:
…. and the list goes on. And the funny part, the info they gave on all these sites isn’t even accurate. Same misinformation across the board. Just goes to show you that not everything you read, especially online, is true.
As for the original photographer? Not a clue, but glad nobodies jumping out of the bushes to shoot me.
Delta School District = a Social Media History Maker
Cross-post from DSD Youth Activities
Pretty impressed with the forward thinking of the Delta School District, as as far I am aware they will be one of the first school districts in Canada to fully embrace social media this summer, by actually offering students a course in it.
That’s right, the Delta School District is having me teach two mini-courses this summer on ‘Blogging and Storytelling’ and I’m pretty gosh, darn excited about it. I love Interactive Storytelling (which is a part of what using social media tools to tell story is), I love to share knowledge (especially that which excites me) and I love working with young people and seeing them get excited about learning.
So details on the classes? Here they are:
BLOGGING – STORYTELLING RESPONSIBLY & SAFELY (ages 10 – 15)
If our youth are going to blog, tweet or fire up flickr photos – on the new information highways – then might it be wise to teach them to do it in both a socially responsible and personally safe fashion? Join media arts specialist and Delta teacher Erica Hargreave as she helps students create their stories and characters online in a safe and responsible manner. This week of storytelling explores the use of social media tools which are becoming more and more a part of their lives. And of course … don’t forget your digital camera!
Fee: $70
ID 8153 July 6 -10 9:00 – 11:00 am Seaquam Secondary
ID 8154 July 13 – 17 1:00 – 3:00 pm Delta Secondary
Nervous about your child learning how to use social media? Well, I hate to say it, but it is just like sex. You can hide it from them, but that doesn’t mean they’re not going to experiment on their own. By showing young people the cool things they can do with social media and storytelling, we can encourage them to be safe, show them how to be safe and how to use the tools responsibly. I also might add, that it is the knowledge of how to use these tools safely and responsibly that a lot of businesses are looking to young people for guidance, opening those that know how to do this to a lot of opportunity.
Hope to see you and your young storytellers this summer!
Vancouver's Got A New California Studio Teacher!
A little known fact, with working with some wonderful teachers, Ahimsa Media has a boutique set teaching division, Ahimsa Kids, geared to providing engaging and inspired teachers to teach child actors on-set in BC. Well, Ahimsa Kids had some very exciting news yesterday, they got their first ever California Certified Studio Teacher for teaching the young actors from LA!!!!
An enormous congratulations to Lori Yearwood on obtaining her California Studio Teaching License!!! We are so, so proud of you and appreciative of the hardwork you put into obtaining the certification! Well done you gorgeous girl!
